By Dan Ivers
NJ.com
BERGEN COUNTY — A former Bergen County corrections officer who was arrested for crack and heroin possession is still entitled to pension benefits, a state appellate panel ruled today.
Keith Dyer resigned following the 2009 arrest as part of an agreement with the county to avoid disciplinary charges, and applied for disability retirement benefits shortly thereafter.
The Board of Trustees of the Police and Firemen’s Retirement System approved his application the following year, citing Dyer’s inability to ever work in law enforcement again and a number of personal hardships, including the death of a close friend, that occurred just prior to his arrest.
Dyer, who had been hired in 2002, had also completed a six-month drug treatment program and paid $783 in fines, according to the decision.
Bergen County appealed, however, saying he should have been forced to forfeit his entire pension, and the matter was referred to the state’s Office of Administrative Law.
Officials there upheld the decision once again, saying that “the penal consequences imposed and agreed to by Dyer are severe enough so that total pension forfeiture is avoided.”
Full story: Court: Bergen corrections officer arrested for crack, heroin can keep pension